PHOTO ARRANGING

Black & White Photo's, Pin Frogs & Glitzy Buttons

I don't recall where I seen this idea of using florists pin frogs as photo holders, but I did store away the idea and piece by piece it has come together.

 

First it was the truck pics (I love old trucks) and just two pin frogs.  When I was growing up dad had an old 1949 Chevy truck and a 1951 Ford truck.  So when I seen these truck photos at a garage sale I had to bring them home with me.

Some where along the way I collected this picture post card of a group of men and women on a nature hike through an orchard. A popular pastime in the Victorian Era of the late 19th  and early 20th century.  I like the un-posed scene and the dress of the men and women. It's a sepia tone photo and the length fits quite nicely on this frog.

I unearthed  this treasure amongst a box of family photos from days gone by...an old black and white photo of my mom and her good  friend Lillian (mom is on the right).  I have so many fond memories of Lillian"s visits with mom. 

And by this time I had also found a few more pin frogs.

One day I was adding some glass and glitzy buttons to my stash and as sometimes happens I found myself at the wrong place...But at the right time...I was standing in front of the photo of mom and Lillian. I looked down into my hand and chose the big black button with rhinestones and slipped the shank over a pin in the frog. Then came the smaller black faceted one and small leather covered button.  I instantly knew this was right, it gave the ensemble a shabby elegance...JUST MY STYLE. 

Neither women would have worn such an overstated rhinestone button...but both would have stopped and picked it up. It's so fitting to be placed at there feet.  

And that's how the glitzy buttons got involved!

This is just a very small collection...I really don't see it getting any bigger...But the pleasure will always be great!

Hope this gives you some ideas to contemplate...

Thanks for popping in~~~

Happy Hunting and Gathering!!!

Today I Sanded

Part One of the Marathon Trilogy


The weather here has turned a bit drizzly and cool so I have left my gardening to fairer weather and moved to the shop for a marathon sanding session.  I pulled quite a few pieces out of the garage, got my sanders and supplies went up to my shop and spent the day sanding.  I got a lot done!

Here are a pair of chairs that I have painted a few times. I am now going for white with stained seats. I sprayed them with an aerosol spray paint but didn't like the glossy finish it also was rough in places. You can't tell from the pics but they are two colors of white because I sprayed them at different times thinking I was using the same paint.  So they have been hanging around for awhile unfinished.

Next I sanded this little magazine stand that I picked up for $5.00 at a local swap meet last month. There are pockets on the sides for holding magazines and newspapers.

Then on to a small hutch that can sit on a dresser or a small table. I got it for $5.00 at the Salvation Army along with a step stool. 

I've had this little guy for about 4 to 5 years. It has been in my store, in my booths and in my house.  I like the style, but that green has finally got to go.  Bye Bye Green!!!

Next up is the little stool you see on top below. Just got it the other day at the Salvation Army for $2.50. I had to secure the top better and give it a light sanding.  Boy this little guy is heavy!  But I think the grand kids will like it for standing on when helping cook. It has foot room and is very stable.

..And finally this one, which is an Ethan Allen piece that I got at Goodwill for $6.99. It has been hanging around in the shop for years, like three years. Well a while back I was in the shop and spotted it and I thought hmmmm! I bet that would look good painted and on the wall above my refrigerator. I don't have a cupboard up above because it's just to high to be practical.  But a display piece like this is a necessity!!!

                        And here you have the grand finale on my marathon sanding session!

Tomorrow I get to try out my new, still in the box, Command Max power paint sprayer. I just had to get one of these after reading about them here at The Polka Dot Closet.  Cans of aerosol spray paint are just to expensive for large jobs. With the new sprayer I will save time and money. I use Benjamin Moore premium flat latex. I find this finish works best for waxing. More on what I use and how for waxing and painting  in "How I Finish and Embellish" Part Three of the Marathon Trilogy.

Stay tuned for Part Two " And I Sprayed Everything White" of the Marathon Trilogy!!!

HAT STANDS AND IMAGE TRANSFERRING

Be Patient, Modge Podge Must Dry!


Whenever I make water slide decals I have to print several pages to get my sizing where I want it to be.  This leads to this - pages of fast draft graphics. I get all my graphics for projects  here at The Graphics Fairy.  Karen also has a very informative post in her DIY tutorial section on 12 different methods of transferring images .   Thank you Karen!!!

Since I test print in fast draft, gray scale mode (to reserve ink) these are rather grainy and light.   I have used these extras to make tags for my booth space, given them to the grand kids, experimented with some, but I never toss them out.  I keep all my print offs in a file folder for easy use.

Well the other day I was making hat stands for my booth space and wanted to embellish them a bit with water slide decals, so I pull out the folder and select a decal,  it didn't work, I tried another, same results (for some reason they kept crumpling up).  I think the shape of the candle stick hat holder was creating a problem.

Now enter Modge Podge, it was on the counter from another project.  I wonder...will those fast draft copies work with Modge Podge.  I've had trouble in the past where the ink has blurred a bit and that was on a normal print mode that disperses more ink.

Yes they will work but first off you need to apply Modge Podge only to the backside of the image and to the object it will go on.  Carefully set image and let this coat dry, then use two light coats  of  Modge Podge, drying thoroughly between each. This method will probably not work with really large images, but the small ones come out fine.  I thought this lady in her fancy dress and hat was just perfect for the hat stand.

While I had every thing out I decided to do up a few more items for the booth space.  Here I used tissue paper print offs to embellish this metal lamp part that I was altering into a hat stand.  Tissue paper is a challenge to print and to Modge Podge.  But the results do pay off. 

I decided to move this one while it was still wet placing my thumb into the middle of the transfer. Unfortunately small pieces adhered to my thumb...so to save the piece I gently scratched away the outside edge and a few more places in the middle. I think I saved it quite nicely!

You also might notice that I used a Gesso technique of Rosemary's over here at villabarnes.  I love how the gesso adheres to metal and the texture you can achieve.   I have some picture frames waiting in the wings to be done using Gesso.

Then I moved on to candles....

Got out my Friskars "Deckle Edge" scissors to give the bottom left image a torn edge look.

I also use my sewing gauge to mark a straight edge distance from the bottom of the candle. Eyeballing it doesn't work for me. A small pair of sharp scissors really help when cutting tissue paper.

The top one is cut with deckle edges scissors. I like how it looks "torn" without having to actually tear the tissue paper.  I wanted a more uniform square.  The far right (again, I touched it to soon) I had to trim away a portion of the black edging on each side, I waited until it was completely dry and did this quite easily with a Olfa knife or you could use a  razor blade.

This was my first attempt at Modge Podge on candles. I have previously tried using my rubber stamps and permanent ink and rolling the candle across.  I did not especially care for this method as mine never quite dried and smudged when touched.  I have also tried stamping my own tissue paper and applying with a heat gun hair dryer.  I do like the results and I was able to apply other embellishments to the soft wax of the candle, such as the jewels in the crown below.  For sale in my booth I wanted a more secure way of attaching the jewels. 

The hat stands and the candles are all finished and ready to go to my booth space. 

Hats off to you!  Thanks for stopping by, until next time...